Halfway to Anywhere
by something-like-love
Summary: Songfic, SnapeHermione. Severus wants Hermione to forget this life, to run away with him. But Hermione can't leave everything she's lived for.


**Disclaimer: Harry Potter is all JKR's.**

**Author's Note: Yeah, another contest for the Hideaway. Using the song provided (Anywhere, by Evanescence) write a fic. I've been trying to experiment with different ships, so this is my first shot at Snape/Hermione. Enjoy!  
**

Severus Snape tapped his fingers impatiently on his desk. He sighed heavily before glancing at the ticking clock to his right and realized that the hands were in the exact same place as they had been what seemed like an eternity ago. How long did one bloody class take? They always met right after his last class ended, but it seemed that the clock hung suspension less for the last ten minutes. Severus looked over at a clump of giggling Ravenclaws in the corner, and was surprised when he didn't even have the energy to properly tell them off. That girl was taking far too much out of him. At this quick thought, he cringed inwardly. _Girl._ She really was very young, not even seventeen. And yet... how was it that she seemed so much older, almost his equal in every way? And the way she behaved was on much higher standards than those of her classmates. What was the word to describe her? Was there even such a perfect word? Ah, yes, _perfect_. That fit nicely. He had the most perfect woman- for that was what he considered her, ages be damned. And they couldn't tell anyone, not a soul, which was eating him up inside. Here he was, Severus Snape, happy for the first time in his life, and no one was allowed to know.

_Dear my love, haven't you wanted to be with me  
And dear my love, haven't you longed to be free  
I can't keep pretending that I don't even know you  
And at sweet night, you are my own  
Take my hand _

The bell rang loud and clear overhead. Students burst forth out of their classrooms, but Severus stayed put behind his desk. It was almost time. She had just finished Charms class, and would give some excuse to her dimwitted friends about her whereabouts for the next hour. Then she would walk quickly down the corridors, hurrying to the dungeons, probably making sure she looked presentable along the way. He didn't care, though. She was always beautiful.

It was at that moment that the door to his classroom opened tentatively. He cleared his throat, their signal that everything was clear. The door pushed open wider, and a figure stepped inside, dropping her full book bag on the floor. He rose, meeting her half-way across the room that seemed much too large. She wrapped her arms around him and placed her head on his chest, sighing deeply. It had been so long. They had to wait until everyone was gone, until no one could witness their happiness.

_We're leaving here tonight  
There's no need to tell anyone  
They'd only hold us down  
So by the morning light  
We'll be halfway to anywhere  
Where love is more than just your name _

"Hermione," he whispered gently, stroking her back with his long fingers. She mumbled incoherently into his robes, not moving from his embrace.

"Look at me," he told her, backing up so that she had no choice but to break apart from him. She shook her head softly, her shower of brown curls falling from the bun she had pulled them into.

"Look at me," he repeated, taking her chin in his hands. He pushed it upward so that she stared him in the face, and he saw that her dark brown eyes glinted with tears. She gulped and met his gaze determinedly, trying to hide what her eyes so clearly showed.

"Severus..." she whispered, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Severus, don't start this, please..."

He ignored her, beginning a verse of words he had been saying over and over, week after week.

"I love you, Hermione," he murmured, and a single tear dripped down her pale cheek. 

I have dreamt of a place for you and I  
No one knows who we are there  
All I want is to give my life only to you  
I've dreamt so long I cannot dream anymore  
Let's run away, I'll take you there

"Come with me. We can go someplace else, anywhere else," he said, wiping her tear away with his thumb. She only cried harder, clenching her fists together.

"Severus, I can't. You... you know about- about Harry and Ron and I," she said in a choked voice. "I can't give it all up. I just can't."

He growled angrily and gritted his teeth. "I don't give a damn about them. All I want is you."

She shook her head silently and offered no further explanation. The tears that had fallen so sparingly at first were now coursing over her face, making his heart clench.

"Please, Hermione," he whispered softly, taking one last chance. The sob that racked her body was enough to make him nearly want to give it up, to stop hurting her like this. Almost. 

Forget this life  
Come with me  
Don't look back you're safe now  
Unlock your heart  
Drop your guard  
No one's left to stop you

"No one's left to stop you," he told her, running his hand through her hair as she cried.

"Yes," she said quietly, so quietly he almost didn't here her. "Yes. My friends are stopping me. My family is stopping my. My heart is stopping me."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked through clenched teeth. Taking a shuddering breath, she wiped the remainder of her tears and looked up at him again, a new ferocity shining in her eyes.

"You can't expect me to give my life up for you," she said coldly, not deflating under his unwavering gaze but seeming to grow stronger, more determined. _Damn Gryffindor_, Severus thought as he watched her. _Pride means too much to her._

"If you love me," he began, but she cut him off, not whispering anymore, but nearly yelling.

"If I loved you- why do you always say that?" she asked desperately. "Do you doubt it, somehow? Just because I refuse to forget everything I've ever been through up until this point and run away with you?"

She didn't wait for him to reply. With one more angry glare, she had turned on her heel and was storming out of the room, pausing only to grab her book bag from the doorway. And it was at that moment Severus Snape really felt his heart break._  
__  
Forget this life  
Come with me  
Don't look back you're safe now  
Unlock your heart  
Drop your guard  
No one's left to stop you now _

"No one's left to stop you," he murmured to himself as he stared longingly at the door. "Nothing at all...nothing but your damn heart."


End file.
